First off, thank you for reading. I know we are all very busy and taking the time to be informed about what is happening in Lamesa Independent School District means a lot to me. In these articles, I do not want to address too much. Rather than go into many things at surface level, I decided I would go into three topics per month and go a bit more in depth. There may be no rhyme or reason to the three things I choose, but that will allow me to always address items that I feel the Lamesa community might have questions about or need to know.
Let’s start with the most important item, our 2024 Senior Class. As I write this, they are 13 days away from one of the biggest accomplishments of their lives. By the time this is published in the Press Reporter and you actually get to read it, it has gotten substantially closer. I spend a lot of time talking about how I do not want High School Graduation to be the BEST night in the life of our young people. I have such belief in all of them that I see great successes waiting for their futures. If you listen, however, you will also always hear me say that it will always be ONE of the best nights in their lives If you have a graduate, be proud. I know it feels like last week that your student was walking into South Elementary with fear, nervousness, and hope. You dropped them off, walked them in, and left them to begin their journey of becoming the great young men and women that will walk the stage next Friday night. The years flew by. The hard tests, the many extracurricular events, the boyfriend/girlfriends, the good times, the hard times, and everything in between. Your student MADE it. They reached one of the biggest milestones in a person’s life. Be proud. Be joyful. Enjoy this time and LOVE your student. Yell loud when your student walks across that stage and then send them on to a fantastic future.
The second thing I would like to discuss is the topic of uncertified teachers. I have no doubt that everyone reading this article is aware of the teacher shortage going on across the country. Yes, the country. Not just Lamesa, not just Texas. The entire country is suffering from this problem. Years ago, uncertified teachers were rare and not every ISD could or would employ one. Those days are gone. Every school district CAN and most school districts DO. What I want to talk about is the plan we have here in Lamesa to help our teachers that are uncertified gain that certification. A year ago, as soon as this new leadership came into place, we began meeting with every single uncertified teacher in our district. They were all in different places in their certification journey. The first thing we did was get a grasp of where every individual was. We then collaborated with each staff member to put a plan of action together. We made sure every teacher was enrolled in a certification program. We put in check points along the way to touch base so that we could track each person’s process. We had to also put time constraints on how long we could give each teacher to gain their certification. I will not get into details, but over the last year, we have had several finish their journey, become certified, and celebrate that success. We have had others not reach the checkpoints necessary and action had to be taken. What do we never do? Give up on any of them. Every single one of our uncertified teachers is on a plan to gain their certification. A timeline catered to each one based on where they were when we first met with them. Through various meetings throughout the year, we track them, support them, push them, and do everything we can to get to aworld where every Lamesa ISD teacher is certified. That is what we want, and we are closer today than we have been in a very long time.
The last topic I want to discuss for May is the process that led to our hiring of Boston Hudson as our new basketball coach. Coach Ramos and I had the opportunity to sit down with 8 great applicants. One of the best applicants was an internal applicant who we both think the world of and both believe is going to be a fantastic head basketball coach. The Lamesa Boys’ Basketball job, however, in our opinions needed a coach with head coaching experience. We did not interview a single head coach that had not had success at their prior stops, but either I never felt right about it or Ramos never felt right about it. Here is the thing, we understood how important of a hire this was for the city of Lamesa, and that is why we never rushed it. All of the previous coaches, from Follis to Moreland and everyone in between, that built Lamesa Basketball to what it is today deserved the best hire. All of the young men (and some that are old men now) that worked, sweat, and won in our Golden Tor Basketball program deserved the best hire. Next year’s seniors and returning players, as well as our young Tors that are coming up in the program deserved the best hire. No one wanted the search to end as much as I did, but I was also unwilling to let it end without us finding, truly, who we believed is the best hire. I have had multiple email me, call me, and text me since the announcement Friday telling me that was a home run hire for Lamesa and surprised that we were able to pull it off. The same emails, calls, and texts came when we were able to hire Coach Ramos. I, however, am not surprised because I believe Lamesa deserves it and this IS the place to be for the future. Athletically, Academically, and everything else in between.
Too many are still not on the train. I suggest you get on before you get left at the station. The Golden Tors are going full speed ahead and not going to look back.
Congratulations again to all of our seniors! I cannot wait to shake your hand as you walk across the stage next Friday night!
David Ritchey
Lamesa ISD Superintendent